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Sunday, 19 July 2015

If we observe the human
history the worst damage that the human race has suffered is through the
natural calamities. The natural calamities are said to be the cause for the
destruction of civilizations far developed than ours. In the last twenty five
years our planet has suffered many devastating earthquakes among which top ten
are described below.

The
West Coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia: The earthquake and
tsunami that hit the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia on 26th
December 2004 is the highest ranking earthquake with the magnitude of 9.3 on
Richter scale. This earthquake had the longest duration of 8.3-0 minutes. This
mega earthquake was responsible for vibrating the whole planet as much as 1
centimeter and caused earthquake as far as Alaska. The waves of tsunami that
hit the coast of 4 countries with Indonesia as the epicenter were around 100
feet high. The collateral damage included $0 billion of material losses and $2
billion of insured losses. The total death toll was recorded as 227,898 dead or
missing.

The
2011 Tohoku Earthquake that hit japan on 11th
arch 2011 is second most devastating earthquake that was though lower on the
Richter Scale than that of Indonesia but caused more collateral damage and the
resultant tsunami created higher waves of around 133 ft. the earthquake
measured 9.2 on Richter scale. The number of confirmed deaths was 15,891 and
more than 2500 people are still missing. The most harmful effect of the
earthquake was the cooling system failure of the nuclear power plant which
caused a Level 7 nuclear meltdown and caused leakage of radioactive materials
into the sea.

Chile
Earthquake: The earthquake that hit Chile on February
27th 200 is ranked third on the list with the magnitude of 8.8 on
scale. At least 523 people were killed and around 12,000 were rendered injured.
The total economic loss in Chile was estimated 30 billion US dollars.

Nias
Earthquake: With the magnitude of 8.6, the Nias
Earthquake that hit northern Sumatra, Indonesia on 28th march 2005
is ranked fourth on the list. At least 1500 people were killed and 300 were
reported injured in this earthquake. This
earthquake caused a lot of panic in the region which had already been hit by
the earthquake and tsunami of 2005.

Banda
Aceh: The fifth highest ranking earthquake hit the province
of Banda Aceh, Indonesia with a magnitude of 8.6 on April 11, 2012. This
earthquake did not cause a lot of damage with only 2 fatalities. It caused huge
amount of panic in Indonesia which included tsunami warnings and people trying
to reach higher grounds.

Indian Ocean Earthquake, Aceh,
Indonesia: With the magnitude of 8.5, southern Sumatra, Indonesia was hit
by an earthquake on 12the September 2007 and is ranked 6th on the
top ten list of earthquakes. At least 25 people were killed and 52,522
buildings were damaged or destroyed in this earthquake.

North
Coast of Peru: The earthquake that hit the coast of Peru
with a magnitude of 8.4 on 23rd June 2011 is ranked seventh on the
top ten lists. At least 75 people were killed and 26 killed by tsunami. 17,510
homes were destroyed.

Earthquake
of Sea of Okhotsk, Russia: With the magnitude of 8.3 the
earthquake that hit Sea of Okhotsk, Russia on May 24th 2013, Hokkaido,
Japan 25th September 2003 and Kuril Islands on 15th
November 2006 are ranked eighth, ninth and tenth on the list. These earthquakes
did not cause a lot of fatalities and the collateral damages were not hat high.